We noticed that you're using an unsupported browser. The TripAdvisor website may not display properly. We support the following browsers:
Windows:Internet Explorer,
Mozilla Firefox,
Google Chrome.
Mac:Safari.

Affordable Berlin

A budget-minded take on Germany’s cool, artsy capital.

Print now

Content provided by

Rating: 3 out of 5 by EveryTrail members

Difficulty: Easy

Duration: Multiple days

Overview :
Berlin has cold-war mystique, ambitious contemporary architecture, and booming gallery and restaurant scenes. With its cosmopolitan,... more » east-meets-west edginess, it’s no wonder the city has become the cultural capital of central Europe; a destination that continues to attract creative types and in-the-know travelers. less «

Tips:
Although it’s hopping year-round, Berlin’s atmosphere is most buoyant in the late summer months and into the fall. The weather is... more » reliably sunny, and locals and visitors flood the bike paths, street cafes, beer gardens and "beach" bars along the Spree. In contrast, winters can be icy cold. less «

Open since the spring of 2007, this terrific Spree-riverfront steak house is still one of the city’s see-and-be-seen hot spots. (No surprise, given the résumés of its founders, nightclub impresario Boris Radczun and gallerist/art collector Stephan Landwehr.) With low ceilings, deep chaises, and red-lamped lighting, the interior... More functions as a set for chicly dressed filmmakers, stylists, and the odd European celebrity—all of whom come to feast on platters of grass-fed Argentine beef, French entrecôte, and Australian Wagyu in a variety of sauces (port-wine, aioli, spicy habañero). The seafood’s no slouch here, either; noncarnivorous types can get their fix with plates of grilled dorade, king crab legs, and super-fresh oysters. A forewarning: service here is notoriously flaky.

Address:
105B Friedrichstrasse
Berlin
Germany

Phone:
49-30-2887-9288Less

5. Kunst-Werke

This former margarine factory displays work from fifty international artists.

In the heart of the buzzing Mitte neighborhood, Lux 11 is the latest creation from a dynamic minimalist duo, Claudio Silvestrin and his wife, Giuliana Salmaso. The 72 rooms (20 more are slated to open in early 2006), each a monolithic space, have open bathrooms finished in concrete and honey-colored wood. An Aveda spa occupies the ground floor,... More and a micro-department store, run by the former buyer for Quartier 206, one of Berlin’s poshest fashion emporiums, is adjacent to the lobby.

Arguably one of the world’s finest archaeological museums, the Pergamon sits proudly in the center of the city’s famed Museumsinsel (Museum Island), a collection of five spectacular museums that’s also a UNESCO World Heritage site. Among the showstoppers in the permanent collection here is an enormous partial re-creation of the Pergamon altar from... More 170-159 B.C., whose frieze (originally 371 feet long) depicts a war between Hellenistic gods. Then there’s the two-story-high Roman Market Gate of Miletus, which dates to A.D. 120, and the dazzling blue-tiled Gate of Ishtar, commissioned in the sixth century B.C. as an entry to the ancient city of Babylon. Many other less monumental but still gorgeous examples of Islamic art and Near Eastern antiquities are also on display.

Four billion dollars and five years were sunk into the building of this supposed future-scape just so that one of its main squares—Marlene-Dietrich-Platz, mind you—could host a McDonald’s, a Starbucks, a sad-looking casino, and Mamma Mia!, the musical. Arriving at the glassed-in Hauptbahnhof, the central train station and one of the largest in... More Europe, is like pulling into a mall/office complex from the farthest reaches of suburbia. The task of reassembling a city whose history still has the capacity to make you gasp has led many of the world’s best architects to perform open-heart surgery on Berlin’s center, but along with generous helpings of glass and steel, they have injected a surfeit of anesthesia.

The Reichstag, with its transparent Norman Foster dome and top-notch collection of contemporary art (cue Gerhard Richter’s stunning interpretation of the German flag in the lobby), is a blessing upon the urban grid and a serious statement about Western democracy’s chances of survival.

Address:
1 Platz der Republik
Berlin
Germany

Phone:
49-30... More-2270Less

14. Ristorante Villa Kellermann

Splurge on truffled pasta at this Potsdam restaurant housed in a waterfront mansion.

The most famous attraction in the Brandenburg capital city of Potsdam (an easy day trip from Berlin) is the elaborate, Rococo-style Sanssouci castle—Berlin’s answer to Versailles, created by King Friedrich Wilhelm II between 1745 and 1747. The sprawling, ornate palace is surrounded by acres of painstakingly landscaped parklands, which include... More terraced gardens, an Orangerie, a Chinese Teahouse, fountains and colonnades, the statuary-covered Neue Palais (a smaller castle), and a reproduction of ancient Roman baths. Exploring here can easily take up an entire afternoon.

There are no toilets at Burgermeister, which is somewhat curious as the place itself is really a toilet. No joke; it is actually a 19th-century cast-iron public bathroom that’s been recommisioned as an Imbiss, or snack joint.

So adored is Berlin currywurst (a hefty sliced pork sausage slathered in curry-spiked ketchup) that there’s even a new museum devoted to it. Curry 36, in Kreuzberg, is the place for a fix—especially after midnight. Ask for Einmal ohne Darm mit Pommes rot-weiß: skinless sausage and fries with both ketchup and mayo.

Facil, on the top floor of the Mandala Hotel at Potsdamer Platz, is reminiscent of the clean lines of the Neue Nationalgalerie down the street, and one is mesmerized by the two rows of chestnut trees—yellow and green in equal measure—shivering in the autumn cold on the attractive patio. The weird acoustics deposit snatches of political and... More economic German on your plate, along with the helicopter laughter of powerful men. The wine list is heavy on fine Austrian Sauvignon Blancs, order a glass with the shoulder of Brandenburg venison with pine-cream chicory. The chef, Michael Kempf, works the palette as well as the palate: golden char roe topped with a luminous, deeply yellow sous vide egg yolk. These are colorful, attractive plates, all very good and well cooked and curated. The food is not vividly memorable but, rather like the room itself, is expertly composed and easy to like.

This formal wood-paneled dining room is one of the grandest in the city and the only one with two Michelin stars. Walking into the room you pass a rolling silver Christofle lobster press parked in the corner. It’s a message, like the giant wine glasses and the hum of service, a symbol of the haute cuisine and rarefied experience ahead.

Frarosa is a wine bar/restaurant where you drink all you like and pay whatever you choose. “You put two euros into the pig to begin,” the barman explains, pointing to a bank on the bar. “At the end, we have a talk and you pay what you think is fair for you and fair for us.” As you can imagine, this is a popular policy. The 15 tables fill quickly... More with guests eating hearty pork fillet and the German wines.

Starchitect Daniel Libeskind’s boldly designed museum building—an angular assemblage of zinc-coated panels that’s been called both visionary and blasphemous—houses exhibits that pay powerful tribute to both the devastation and hope of the Jewish people. The zigzagging architecture of the building is an essential part of the visitor experience,... More with gaping voids, staircases, and “axes” that lead into provocative interactive environments—like the Holocaust Tower or Garden of Exile. In late 2007, a new glass-roofed garden, also designed by Libeskind and reminiscent of a Sukkoth hut, was opened and now hosts special events.

A veritable Disneyland of comestibles, the sixth floor of the KaDeWe department store showcases all the latest food trends and ingredients. At its 30-plus dining bars, one can taste anything from bratwurst to bouillabaisse, but the best among them might be the cool, nameless herring nook—it’s right next to the fish section—mannered by a chef who... More constructs fanciful smoked-fish platters and Fishbrötchen (fish sandwiches) with the brio of sushi maestro. Try the buttery matjes herring fillets packed into a big toll with a brittle crust and minimally accessorized with white onion, lettuce, and a tart pickle slice. Claim a window stool, order a glass of Riesling, and look out onto Berlin’s moody gray sky and the urban jumble below.

Take the tram to the Mauerpark flea market in Prenzlauer Berg, near the site of the crumbling Wall. Stop into one of the café stalls alongside the market for shots of glühwein, mulled wine spiked with rum.

Unlike a lot of self-consciously funky hotels around the world, the Michelberger is genuinely cool. And friendly and funny: hallway TV’s play a permanent loop of The Big Lebowski in German. Built in a refashioned factory on Warschauerstrasse in the east, the whole operation feels like a large-scale art-school project. There is free Wi-Fi and cheap... More coffee, and the library has wire bookshelves stuffed with travel guides and 1970’s German food magazines.

* TripAdvisor LLC is not a booking agent and does not charge any service fees to users of our site... (more)

We noticed that you're using an unsupported browser. The TripAdvisor website may not display properly. We support the following browsers:
Windows:Internet Explorer,
Mozilla Firefox,
Google Chrome.
Mac:Safari.

TripAdvisor LLC is not responsible for content on external web sites. Taxes, fees not included for deals content.